About | James Giacalone for Albany County Legislature, District 6

Why I'm Running

I’m running for Albany County Legislature in District 6 because I want a government that prioritizes TENANTS over landlords, PEOPLE over police, and THE WORKING CLASS over big businesses and wealthy interest groups. While organizing tenant unions in our community I have seen the results of establishment democrats’ negligence on these issues. I have been listening to my neighbors, I know that they do not feel heard by their local officials, and I am a firm believer that if you do not see your own values represented on the ballot, it is your duty to get on it yourself.

Meet James

James Giacalone is a tenant union organizer and a fiscal analyst for the State of New York. James knows that a better life and better system are possible, but that they can only be achieved through direct, collective action. That’s why they are laser-focused on talking face-to-face with residents about real policies that the community can get behind.

At a time when politicians focus on platitudes and maneuvering, James wants to provide individuals with clear steps to rebalance the local economy in favor of the working class, protect citizens and non-citizens alike from over-zealous and racially-charged policing and surveillance, and put housing back in the hands of communities.

A former State Senate Fellow and a graduate from SUNY Albany with a Master of Public Administration and Università Bocconi with a Master of Science in Economics and Management of Government and International Organizations, James knows how to create durable legislative solutions and believes that, even with an antagonistic federal government and an unresponsive state government, real changes can be made on a local level when communities fight for their needs to be met.